Old concert reviews, previews and stories from Playback:STL. Opinions expressed ten years ago do not necessarily represent my opinions today.

Friday, May 8, 2015

The Blood Brothers Creepy Crawl, July 17, 2004

The gig was sold out. Still, a line of fans snaked around
Creepy Crawl into the parking lot like the Mississippi River. Outside strode a
clearly rushed and irritated Creepy employee. “If you do not have tickets that
you purchased online, I’m sorry, but this show is sold out!” Grumbles were
heard en masse, the Internet was cursed, and people headed back to their cars.
A sold-out summer show at the Creepy was upon us. I could tell that this was
going to be an interesting night.

Following the Chromatics’ brief set of shoe-gazing dance punk, Kill Me Tomorrow
took flight. Hailing from San Diego, percussionist Zack Wentz’s kit was an
electrified get-up with a digital console that looked like a futuristic heart
monitor. Accompanied by bassist K8 Wince and guitarist Dan Wise, KMT were a
perfect match on this bill. Noisy no-wave, art-rock smoked out of the PA with
all three members sharing vocal duties. Their set was by no means easy and
their sound uncompromising, which came as no surprise from a band that’s signed
to Gold Standard Laboratories: Where Convention is a Four-Letter Word.

When the Daughters took stage, the mercury had risen to a level that would make
a high-school wrestler cutting weight giggle with glee. Applying the death
metal theory of drumming, a double kicker ruled the entire set. So did
screaming and songs that rarely exceeded a minute in length. The Daughters have
clearly been raised on a large diet of the Locust. I can’t say that I’m going
to rush out and buy their entire catalog, but I can’t stop myself from loving
the very fact that they exist. This might not make a lick of sense, but unless
you’ve tricked an unsuspecting friend into attending a Skin Graft Records fest
or owned more than one Melt Banana record, you just wouldn’t get it. Art can be
that way.

Mirages were popping up everywhere around Creepy when the Blood Brothers
started playing. Playing a set that was largely a testing ground for their new
LP Crimes (out October 5 on V2 Records), Brothers vocalists Jordan Blilie and
Johnny Whitney shook, screamed, and flailed through the wall of heat that
enveloped the crowd and the band. The new material they played showed no
evidence that the Brothers are going to churn out a record that will soften
their legacy in the slightest. Those up front went absolutely apeshit as the
Brothers closed out their set with “Cecilia and the Silhouette Saloon” from
Burn, Piano Island, Burn. Afterwards, as the crowd filed out of the under-21
section, faces and bodies drenched in sweat, they looked as if the night had
been a marathon held in a sauna. No matter, for this was a sauna worth every
penny. The Blood Brothers were magnificent.